May 21, 2009

It has taken me days to re-enter real life after a 15 day tropical vacation. I always underestimate how long it takes to fully return. The better the trip the longer it takes. This time I find myself on day 6 still floating in the clouds. Pattern interruption is so healthy. I've watched no television since I've returned despite all the tivo recorded goodies, having watched absolutely none while I was away. My only electronic excess while away was enjoying Amy Winehouse. I did come home to the newly released Enchanted April DVD and that only prolonged the ecstasy. If you haven't seen this period piece about middle aged English women renting an italian castle, add it to your list. I personally harassed Amazon and Netflix for years about this overlooked gem. While I was away Amazon finally sent it along. Indulge. Help spread the pleasure vibe. Less running around. Less senseless movement. More quiet enjoyment. Memorial Day Weekend is almost here offering us the next opportunity to dive into such pleasures. Luxuriate.

May 20, 2009

Cookbooks? Poetry? Plays? One of my fondest memories is of a dinner party at friends Roberta & Bruce, where Bruce orchestrated a reading by the attending guests of a Neil Simon play. It was a riot and they practically had to forcibly eject us from the house, we were having so much fun to the bitter end. Their inspiration had been Roberta's reading/singing experience with South Pacific. Remember how in Jane Austen novels people gather to read? How about it? You could even try reading aloud in a new language. Lola and I read aloud Pablo Neruda's Odes to Common Things from the Bulfinch Press lovely bilingual edition. How about the cookbook I've just listed on artisanal puertorrican cooking? Or La Traviata for lovers of italian? What would you like to read aloud? What would you like to have read to you?

May 18, 2009

Birthdays are for celebrating! I've always loved these special occasions. My childhood birthday memories are rooted in our annual pilgrimages to the house of my three great-aunts in Puerto Rico, my maternal grandfather's sisters - Candita, Hersilia and Pilar - each of whom celebrated their birthday or saint's day with a huge family gathering, every year. We all came to celebrate the birthday aunt, to enjoy each other and to partake of delicious home made sweets. They must have cooked for days. What I liked best were the pineapple upside down cake made from scratch, the budin diplomatico and the flan de calabaza now passed forward to my own friends. This gathering was the glue that brought together all branches of the family at least three times a year. With that example I've always enthusiastically taken my birthday celebration into my own hands. I make a point of celebrating the day no matter what is going on in my life. First by doing something creative by myself, for myself and with myself. Then by expressing my joy with a gathering of friends and family, sometimes cooking a great dinner, other times hosting a splendid dinner out. Somewhere in the mix I always play my favorite birthday soundtrack with I Heard it's Your Birthday by the Beatles and You're the Top by Louis Armstrong and Marilyn Monroe's breathy rendition of Happy Birthday Mr. President. This year I spent the two weeks before my birthday cavorting with friends in St. Martin, then visiting with family and friends in Puerto Rico who began this year's festivities by cracking out a delicious guava cake topped with sparklers. Tonight I'm celebrating the actual date with my family at Nobu over the chef's tasting menu and some good champagne. The after party begins tomorrow in Santa Monica with a good friend in from out of town. I have so much to celebrate. Despite everything and because of it, I am happy to be alive.

April 24, 2009

This coming Sunday Zofie celebrates completion of her first decade. "¡Que diez años tan bien aprovechados! my mother would say. A worthy decade indeed. Zofie exudes confidence in who she is and all she does. From flute to gymnastics to reading all of Harry Potter to knowing her mind to simply being Zofie. What a fine bloom!

April 21, 2009

Sunday in withering 100 degree heat we celebrated Max's 9th birthday. How did the precious infant we greeted into our lives scarcely 9 years ago grow so quickly
into this magnificent life affirming young boy we so love today? Max is a major source of light and joy for us all. To celebrate his posse reveled with him in water fights, karaoke performances, and all sorts of games, punctuated by sugary chocolate cake and heartfelt good wishes. Amidst all this Max still found time to commune with his buddy Jolly - the Iraq rescue dog next door - and to climb a tree. From under that very tree we all watched in total wonder. A great day for a great boy!

April 08, 2009

Of late I've returned to knitting. While my Welsh grandmother taught me to knit as a young girl the truth is that she herself knitted pretty awful looking things albeit with great gusto. I still have a never worn navy blue ski cap that she made for me and her rudimentary tutelage got me as far as knitting a striped scarf for a college boyfriend. I thought I had hung up my needles for good. In recent years as knitting returned to fashion I wistfully remembered my youthful experience and resisted because I knew it could not lead anywhere nearly beautiful enough. Then my dear friend Joanie pictured above took up knitting with passion. If she could get me through calculus in college she certainly could get me knitting again. Joanie's enthusiasm inspired me and in my inimitable contrarian way I proceeded to hunt down luxury yarn and choose complicated projects rather than follow the pack of beginning knitters. I wanted bigger challenges. First there was the cactus green blanket for our den, a straight knit with moss stitch border that only my partner could love. You don't want to know how many times I undid the mistakes I happened to notice in the moss stitch where you alternate knit and purl stitches. I loved the feeling of the blanket growing on my lap as I knit along. Ripping out and redoing ceased to matter as the stitching and I became one. There followed a blue cashmere tea cozy for a friend's birthday. An extravagant gift for and extravagant friend, just a little bit lumpy. Did I only imagine that my friend was taken aback? Then I abandoned halfway a yoga mat carrier that was meant to be felted. It got uglier and uglier until I couldn't stand it any more. I returned to the luxury yarn path and began another blanket in pale blue for myself and our living room. And I made a floor cushion cover in another sumptuous green yarn that makes me feel like a first grader with a huge and ugly arts and crafts project. I love it and it just looks awful! And all I want is to make another one. Am I knitting my way to eventual perfection or just another chip off the old block!

April 07, 2009

The buzz these days among people I meet is all about what we're doing differently in response to the economic crisis. It seems everyone feels affected, compelled to take some action and wants to talk about it. Some of us have no job, others are nervous our job might go next. Some of our businesses are slow, others failing and still others not yet off the ground. Interestingly response in the face of such financial uncertainty seems to be yielding an unexpected value. There is a silver lining to all this. The constraints are actually providing new experiences and opportunities for connection! Family game night over delivered pizza rather than dinner out at a restaurant. Hanging out in the hood instead of at fancy summer camp. Ski trips without the luxury hotel. Staycations. More cooking at home and less eating out. Not buying things you don't need. Delaying gratification. Eating lower on the food chain. Book sharing. Shopping in your closet. Repurposing and gifting things others can use. Exercising more. Taking better care of ourselves. Gardening. Fixing things instead of replacing them with new ones. Finding other things to do besides shopping. Choosing to enjoy rather than fret. And as we rein things in we find ourselves dusting off forgotten values tied more to people than to things. Deepening spiritual practice. Sharing. Volunteering. Giving to charity. Giving more. Paying attention. Being in the moment. Valuing what money cannot buy.

April 06, 2009

Shabby Chic is my kind of beauty. Soft and sturdy, beautiful and functional. Very comfortable loveliness. Mussy just short of fussy. Impractical beautiful and delicate fabrics rendered washable for daily use. Loveliness in the ordinary things of daily life. The feeling of old country house, there before me and long after. What a pleasure to have happened upon it. After days of staying away, following my mother's maxim "si no quieres gastar no vayas de tienda" (loosely translated -- if you don't want to spend, don't go shopping), curiosity got the better of me. I entered Rachel Ashwell's zone at Shabby Chic for its final business closing for good sale in Malibu only to discover that all their shops are closing. I then visited the Santa Monica store as well. First it simply took my breath away and then I was oh so sad. Treasure filled Shabby Chic once in LA, NY, SFO and beyond will soon be no more. For me it is the end of an era.

My house is filled with Shabby Chic's wonderful furniture, lamps, linens.
An oatmeal linen slipcovered down sofa in the dining room that offers the perfect sunny nap spot in our house,
a hot pink velveteen slip covered squadgy chair and ottoman that provide a quiet reading corner with a view -- both pieces I've had since 1993 when I was just beginning my newly single life at the beach.

In more recent years Shabby Chic's white linen down modern sectional has anchored our living room accommodating everything from two people napping with assorted pets to high tea for twenty. Just last week I was musing about when it came time to replace our beloved and well worn cactus colored suede sectional sofa in the den that another Shabby Chic piece of furniture would be the next improvement. When I bought my first Shabby Chic sofa, originally in washable white linen, my friend Teri pronounced it a boat to carry me through rough seas for a lifetime. That was 17 years ago and the sofa now recovered in oatmeal linen is still as good as new. The furniture is beautiful, washable, durable and solid. Made well enough to bequeath to the next generation and timeless enough for them to still appreciate. Where will I go now for such comforting furniture? Rachel Ashwell, until you are back I will miss your inspired aesthetic.
Thanks for the beauty!

March 27, 2009

Take a look at this magnificent green tree. Remember last September, when it was a riotous pink? This tree is clearly busy working its way from green to pink. It's hard to comprehend change as it is happening. Often times I only appreciate it after the fact. Before noticing this splendid pink tree last year I can't say I had ever appreciated its green incarnation. Today it boldly calls to me.